Nokia to pay Stephen Elop millions to move to Microsoft

Stephen Elop will get a $25m cut of the Microsoft-Nokia deal after the Windows Phone company buys the Finnish smartphone business, new regulatory filings have confirmed today. The payout to the outgoing CEO, which is detailed in an SEC 6-K submitted by Nokia today, calculates that Elop can expect roughly €18.8m ($25.4m), with Nokia on the hook for 30-percent of that while Microsoft will foot the remainder of the bill.

The payout - which is contingent on the acquisition actually getting regulatory approval - is part of Elop's contract with Nokia. "Mr. Elop will be entitled to receive 18 months of his base salary and management short-term cash incentive (calculated at 100% of target) as well as accelerated vesting of his outstanding equity awards" the contract states.

There's also a clause in there about where Elop can and can't go on to after leaving Nokia, designed to prevent the Canadian executive from jumping ship to a rival firm. However, Nokia has said it will waive that assuming Elop joins Microsoft.

Such a move is certainly expected. Elop will be executive vice president of devices and services at Nokia, leading a team that also includes current company execs Jo Harlow, Juha Putkiranta, Timo Toikkanen, and Chris Weber.

Elop will report directly to Steve Ballmer, but has also been tipped as a potential replacement for the Microsoft CEO when he retires within a year's time.

Back at Nokia, current chairman of the board of directors Risto Siilasmaa will take on interim CEO duties. Although the company will lose its smartphone business, it will retain divisions like HERE mapping, not to mention its patent portfolio which it will license to Microsoft for a ten year period.